


Breaking Up is Hard to Do

by lizardcookie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Marauders' Era, im a BIG fan of lily not having the best home life im sorry lily, seventh year jily, take some mild jily angst, waves jazz hands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 12:20:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6657502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizardcookie/pseuds/lizardcookie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lily rolled her eyes, but didn’t hide her smile. “You couldn’t just wait until tomorrow? Apparate near by like a normal wizard? Maybe avoid risking the International Statute of Secrecy?”</p>
<p>“Perfect nighttime flying conditions plus a chance to see you?” James shook his head in disbelief. “Honestly this is like a wet dream I’m sure I’ve had once.”</p>
<p>He earned a good shove for that one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breaking Up is Hard to Do

“I thought your mum _liked_ me.”

“She does.”

“Well, apparently not enough.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic about it,” Lily chided.

“Dramatic? I have never been dramatic once in my life, ever.”

“Says the boy who gave his friends their own code names.”

“Hey, those are _cool_ and you know it,” James shifts a little to deliver a pointed glare at her. “Besides, this is the appropriate level of response I should be having.”

“Which is why I didn’t want to tell you!”

“Yeah, that’s another conversation for later, after we deal with the fact that _your mum wants you to break up with me._ ”

“Don’t take it personally. She’d want me to break up with any wizard I brought home.”

His eyes widened in the dark, the moonlight reflecting off his glasses. “Hang on, how many wizards have you brought home?”

“Not the point, James.”

“Great, another conversation for later, then. Add it to the pile of things to sort through.”

“Would you keep your voice down? _Muffliato_ can’t hide everything, and if Mum or Tuney finds you here then you’re really toast.”

“Are you sure you’re not just ashamed of your magic boyfriend?”

“Oh my God,” Lily huffed, falling onto her pillow in annoyance. “What does Sirius do when you’re this petulant? How does he put up with you?”

“We shoot FIlibuster’s in the Dungeons at each other,” James told her, as if it were an obvious and logical solution. “Or we punch it out.”

“Merlin’s pants, it’s a miracle you’ve made it this far in life.” Lily rubbed her temple as an interlude before looking back at James, who lounged quite relaxed at the edge of her childhood bed. It was by happy (or unhappy, she couldn’t decide) that Lily heard tappings on her window less than an hour after she and her mother had finished their row.Instead of the owl she’d immediately suspected, she was confronted by the appearance of the root of the argument himself. His broomstick lay resting against the wall, her window cracked open slightly as a reminder to the both of them that James would have to leave through it soon.

“If I may remind you,” she raised her eyebrows pointedly, “you aren’t even supposed to _be_ in this house right now, let alone in my bed.”

James shrugged, a smug grin on his lips. “I was innocently flying above the clouds when I felt something call me downwards. How was I supposed to know that the very window I landed near would be yours? A siren’s call, honestly.”

Lily rolled her eyes, but didn’t hide her smile. “You couldn’t just wait until tomorrow? Apparate near by like a normal wizard? Maybe avoid risking the International Statute of Secrecy?”

“Perfect nighttime flying conditions plus a chance to see you?” James shook his head in disbelief. “Honestly this is like a wet dream I’m sure I’ve had once.”

He earned a good shove for that one.

“Watch it, Potter, you’re in enemy territory here. There’s house rules against things like sneaking boyfriends in through windows and jeopardizing childhood innocence.”

“Now, that’s not very fair. Petunia can’t sneak Vernon anywhere. She’s at a disadvantage.”

Lily snorted. “Regardless, it won’t help your case if one of them walks in and finds you.”

“Ah, yes, they’d see our fully clothed bodies atop your blankets and the whole countryside would falter in shame and morality.”

“To put it lightly.”

“There is an alternative, you know. We could give them something to be _truly_ scandalized about.”

Lily swatted his hand away from her thigh.

“Alright, alright,” James laughed easily. “Let’s start back from the beginning. Tell me what happened.”

Right. The fight. The reason why James’ surprise visit wasn’t the fun filled evening he must have envisioned. Tried though she did, James knew her too well at this point. He knew when she was bothered and upset and hiding something. Lily opened her mouth, closed it, then started again. “Mum is… concerned.”

“About us,” James filled in.

“About you,” Lily corrected.

“About me.” James furrowed his eyebrows in distaste.

“We’ve been dating for a good couple months now-- officially, anyway-- and I think she realized it’s a lot more serious than she thought back in December when you stayed those couple of nights.” She twisted her hands in her lap, looking down. “You know I don’t like talking about these sorts of things, so I’ve never really mentioned how often Mum and I fight. It’s usually small things, the sort that can be ignored when I’m at school but not this. She’s always had it in her head that I would be done with Hogwarts as soon as I finished. That I’d stash my wand away and find a nice muggle man and settle down, like Petunia. And I guess the way I talk about you kind of made her doubt that I’d be able to leave you behind.”

She didn’t look at him, didn’t want to see the expression on his face as she felt her frustration rise again. “I mean, it’s simple, isn’t it? You aren’t a muggle, James. Mum’s afraid of me becoming too attached to someone in the wizarding world and forgetting about the ‘real’ world.”

He took a moment to weigh what she said, and when she finally turned her head to look at him, she saw he bore his usual thoughtful expression. “Is your mum like Petunia? Does she hate magic too?”

“I wouldn’t say she’s Petunia,” Lily mulled, pursing her lips to buy time to think. “She doesn’t hate magic, but that doesn’t mean she’s completely comfortable with it. Mum thinks that me being a witch is just a fun quirk, a brief phase in my life. Ever since I was little she wanted me to move on from Hogwarts and go to university to be the first one in the family with a full education.”

“But education doesn’t stop at Hogwarts,” James added.

“I know that, but try explaining it to _her_. ‘Potioneer’ doesn’t sound as legitimate as ‘nurse,’ no matter how many times I’ve tried to tell her that this is how things work for us.” Lily sighed, running her hand through her hair-- a habit she’d picked up from James and couldn’t quite shake. She didn’t meet his eye when she confessed quietly,  “I’ve really tried to stop arguing her since Dad died. Her nerves aren’t what they used to be, and this sent her over the edge.”

James reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze, bringing it to his lips for a gentle kiss as Lily stared at the wall, determined to not let the tears spillover. Several deep breaths later, aided by the slow circles his thumb traced back and forth on the back of his hand, her heart rate calmed back to normal.

“Is there anything I can do?” James asked tentatively. “I can come over again tomorrow, properly. Woo your mother all over again.”

“No,” Lily smiled sadly. “I’m sorry. That’s very sweet, but you can’t change anything. She’s pretty obstinate when she wants to be.”

“Such a strange quality. Would never have expected that of an Evans.”

“Oh har, har,” she deadpanned, and they fell into a comfortable silence, each one mulling things over in their heads. She picked at some of the textile patterns in her bed comforter while James sat up across from her, the same thoughtful expression from earlier settled over his brow.

A quiet voice in the back of Lily’s mind pressed forward, demanding her acknowledgment. If her mother didn’t like the idea of potioneer, what would she think of the fact that Lily had plans to join the resistance? To rescind all her Ministry applications? To move out of the house as soon as she could in the summer? With only a few of months left to Seventh Year, each one of these issues was drawing nearer and nearer, and Lily wasn’t sure what the end would look like-- wasn’t sure of much anymore aside from the fact that she wanted James Potter with her every step of the way, and her mother wanted to put an end to that. 

The silence between them lulled until James broke it first. Startled out of her reverie, Lily jerked her her head up see that James really was chuckling to himself, shaking his head back and forth. And for some inexplicable reason, James began to laugh in earnest next to her, a wide grin splitting his face in two as he looked back at Lily, who stared wide-eyed at him.

“What about any of this is funny to you? And would you keep it down, maniac, why are you laughing?”

James grabbed Lily round the waist, dragging her down so that she was caught in his arms, the feeling of his laughter reverberating through his chest and into her body so that Lily could not help but smile bemusedly at him as they now lay down side by side, legs tangled up in the other’s.

“I get faulted for not being a muggle while you get faulted for being muggleborn.” James explained, kissing her on the head, “That’s pretty fucked up.”

“Yes, well, fortunately for you, I don’t think my mother will murder you as a consequence of your posh birth.”

The smile slipped right off his face. “Oh, shit, Lily, I didn’t mean--”

“It’s fine,” she gives him a quick peck on the lips to reassure him. “I know what you meant. It _is_ pretty ironic.”

He relaxed once more, nuzzling his face in her neck, breathe tickling her neck for a few moments before he spoke up again. “This isn’t fair. My parents adore you.” 

“Ah, yes, well, we can’t both be as charming as I am, love. Balance in all things.”

“Just cause Dad thinks you’re some big potions nerd prodigy” James grumbled.

Lily smiled smugly, though he couldn’t see it. Instead, she rolled over so that she hovered above him, the smug smile only growing as she positioned her legs on either side of him, shifting her weight to be able to more comfortably trace her lips down James’ neck. His hands gripped her hips, fingers burning imprints where he reached under her shirt and toyed with her waistband.

“So?” James asked, looking up and matching her grin, if not smiling even more than she. “Does your mum win? Is this the big breakup I’ve been afraid of?”

“Is this what breaking up with you looks like?”

“Wouldn’t know. Hoping to never find out, either.”

“What a coincidence,” Lily hummed, giggling lightly as she looked down at James, pinned to her muggle bed, the cracked window and broomstick nearly all forgotten. “Neither am I.”

**Author's Note:**

> I realized that I have this taking place over Easter Holidays and I think Petunia would already be married off to Vernon and not living at home right now but... oh well. Also, I love conversational dialogue and this was good practice.
> 
> I'm lizardcookie on tumblr!


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